10 Best Selling Cigarettes in India

Wondering what the 10 best selling cigarettes in India are? Then stick with us because we made a list of them.

Ever since our ancestors discovered the addictive effects of the tobacco plant and nicotine, people have been smoking everywhere and all the time. We found ways to use the tobacco plant by drying the leaves and rolling them into what is known as bidi (beedi). It seems like the smoking never stopped ever since and it’s not very likely that it will anytime soon. Even though there are countless warnings printed on cigarette packs, and doctors keep telling us to quit smoking because it will eventually kill us, people still can’t give up this addiction.

Probably most of the people who are addicted to nicotine first tried a cigarette in their teen years, which is a devastating fact, as well as the general opinion of teenagers that the kids who smoke are considered to be cool by their peers.

India is the second largest producer of tobacco products, right after China, and they export their products all over the world. In fact, 86% of all things exported from India are actually tobacco products. Even though there has been a lot of talking about how tobacco use has dropped in recent years in India, smoking is still very popular and poses a serious threat to the population. Now it’s not a secret anymore that cigarettes cause cancer and so many other diseases, and it’s even printed on the packs of cigarettes and smoking is banned from many areas. But it seems like all these anti-smoking campaigns can’t hurt the well-established brands and their popularity. There are about 120 million smokers in India, and about 15,441 men and 3,375 women are being killed by tobacco every week. But not all cigarettes bought in India are legally procured India is also a great illegal cigarette market, where a lot of cigarettes are obtained illegally or smuggled into the country.

By the way, you can watch the video below to find out 7 cigarette brands that contain the lowest tar and nicotine.

But as we said, all the dangers of smoking simply can’t hurt some famous cigarette brands even those that are very expensive and seem unaffordable to many. If you’re wondering which ones are we talking about, check out our 10 most expensive countries to buy cigarettes in the world.

We were also curious about the best-selling cigarettes in India, so we did a research to find out what those are. It was impossible for us to find any relevant sources regarding best-selling brands of cigarettes in India, so instead, we ranked the most popular cigarettes in this country which are naturally, the best sold too. We relied on Euromonitor International to help us compile a list of 10 best selling cigarettes in India. 

10. Gudang Garam

A popular brand from Indonesia, these clove cigarettes are one of the best-selling cigarettes in India. The company is known for the story about the amazing founder of this company who started from nothing only to end up owning one of the largest kretek cigarette companies.

9. Parliament

Produced by the famous Philip Morris company, Parliament cigarettes are very popular in India and one of the best-selling ones too. They are the first cigarettes to have paper filters, and now they come in many different flavors such as menthol. Their recessed filters made them even more popular which is supposed to reduce the amount of tar we’re exposed to. And probably everyone knows the story about Charlie Sheen in Parliament cigarettes ads back I the 1990’s.

8. Navy Cut

Other popular cigarettes in India are Navy Cut, which was one of the first filtered cigarettes to be featured in India. Before that, all cigarettes were unfiltered so switching to filtered ones meant that the tobacco companies needed to advertise their cigarettes a lot if they wanted the same success. Navy Cut can be bought in packs of 10 and 20 cigarettes.

7. Pall Mall

Pall Mall is not just one of the best selling cigarettes in India; it is also the highest selling brand from R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company in North Carolina, USA. There are many varieties of Pall Mall such as Red, Blue, Black, and many others, which denote the strength of the cigarette. They also produce long cigarettes. The brand was introduced in 1899, and it continues to be popular ever since.

6. Benson & Hedges

Benson&Hedges came sixth among our best selling cigarettes in India and not without reason. This British brand of cigarettes is made from Virginia tobacco and depending on the part of the world; it is owned by BAT (British American Tobacco), Philip Morris International, or Japan Tobacco.

5. Kool Filter Kings

Especially popular among the youth, Kool Filter Kings is one of the best selling cigarettes in India. It was first introduced in 1979, and it is still very popular in India. Therefore it was inevitable to include it on our list of best-selling cigarettes.

4. Marlboro

Is there such a person who hasn’t heard about Marlboro? There probably isn’t because this is certainly one of the most popular brands in the world. Naturally, it is also very popular in India. The cigarettes are produced by Philip Morris International, and it’s hard not to see this brand advertised everywhere.

3. Beedi

Beedi cigarettes are not just like traditional cigarettes brands. It’s a type of cigarette that is very thin, contains tobacco, and it’s wrapped in a leaf and then tied with a string. How did the idea originate? Workers in tobacco industry would take a left over tobacco and wrap it in leaves, and this simple yet brilliant idea continues to be popular. Usually, a tendu leaf is used for wrapping the cigarettes after it’s been dried in the sun for a few days.

2. Gold Flake Light

One of the best-selling cigarettes in this country, and on our list of best selling cigarettes in India, the Gold Flake Light belong to the Gold Flake brand under ITC. It is believed that Gold Flake Light contains less nicotine and tar and this makes them popular among those who wish to slowly quit smoking altogether, although there is no proof whatsoever that they are less addictive or do not cause serious diseases.

1. Gold Flake Kings

The best selling cigarettes in India, and an Indian brand, Gold Flake King is manufactured by the same company as Gold Flake Light. Gold Flake introduced the Gold Flake King variety in the 1970’s, and the name comes from the Golden tobacco. They continue to be the number one brand in India.